Luísa Maita’s 2010 debut album Lero-Lero placed her on the musical map, but this singer-songwriter is no newcomer to Brazilian music. As the daughter of noted Brazilian composer and songwriter Amado Maita and music producer Myriam Taubkin, Luísa possesses a near-birth fluency in the language of Brazilian song. She’s even named after a song by bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim called “Luiza.”

Maita’s songwriting perspective evinces a deep interest in wonder and finding joy and happiness inside the rush of modern life, whether through music, nature, or love. The sultry São Paulo native’s trademark is a folksy, funky update to the classic Brazilian sounds of samba in the vein of fellow Brazilian sirens Céu and Bebel Gilberto. But as comfortable as she is the idiom of the great Brazilian songwriters, she takes in the pop cues of Prince and Michael Jackson, some of her North American favorites. And her soulful voice possesses a delicate, ethereal quality reminiscent of Sade and Feist.

Maita continues to garner praise internationally as well as in her native country. In November 2010, the singer made her US debut, playing to sold-out audiences and generating positive reviews from the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. More recently, in July, Maita was named Best New Artist at the Brazilian Music Awards.

Photo by Gal Oppido